Ibudab
Ibudab is the central figure in the most popular religion of the Imperial Oferan Empire and the most influential figure in the history of the species. He is immortal and is known to be over 17,000-years old, but his actual age is unknown. 15,000-years ago he unified the 27 Tribes of D'Ulib, the precursor to the Great Houses, in the stone age of that world, and became the Emperor of the First Empire and oversaw the Tribal system being superseded by the Great House system. Over the next few millennia he was Emperor on several occasions and eventually stepped aside as the religion around him grew up. Eventually he stepped away even from this and allowed others to run it in his named based on the teachings he had written down over time. When the Nostluhk invaded he was captured, tortured and experimented on by the Nostluhk scientists. This hardened his xenophobic feelings against aliens. He ultimately escaped and led the revolution which lead to the Nostluhk abandoning D'Ulib. Ibudab then oversaw the reverse engineering of the leftover Nostluhk technology and then lead the charge into pace and helped establish the Imperial Oferan Empire. When the Oferan came into contact with other races it was Ibudab's assertion that they conquer or be conquered, as their experience with the Nostluhk had taught them. It was not until the Empire met the Alliance and were defeated in battle and then the Alliance sued for peace that Ibudab, and the Oferan population at large, began to change their opinion about aliens. Over the past century even more alien races have come to light and the majority of them have been seen as peaceful allies by Ibudab, but he has never left the Empire. In 328AE it was announced that he would lead the first Oferan/ Alliance non-military joint venture, Operation Open Water into the Bregenna Expanse. As such it was seen as a holy cause by many Oferan who threw their weight behind the mission and thousands signed up to Star Command as non-commissioned officers, such as Sorvel, Son of Yuvel, in order to follow him. Over the millennia he has occasionally had visions of the future, he has written them down and they have become known as the Prophecies of Ibudab, some of them have already come to pass (such as the Nostluhk Invasion) but many have not. Only one person in history is known to have defeated Ibudab in one-on-one combat, an Oferan Quad trained by a Smuilian. Since that day the Quad have been honoured people by the Oferan. Screaming Into The Night Ibudab was attacked aboard his flagship the IOEV Holy Throne by the Naz'Jil's. Although rescued by an Alliance ship he died, his final words calling for Holy War. His death led to mass grieving in the Empire, 6% of the population committed suicide and there were widespread riots. Over one billion died in the first month of the Naz'Jil-Oferan Holy War alone. Prophecies For several millennia Ibudab made prophecies about the future. Some of the more famous ones to have come true included the Nostluhk Invasion of D'Ulib, first contact with the Ge and his own death. Some of the prophecies have still to materialize, such as the one he made about his spirit returning in reincarnated form and a second temple being raised on Myajath. Category:Imperial Oferan Empire